Author: Mark Alexander

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Whoa…

Boring Description: This is a video simulation of how the Curiosity Rover (which was launched today) will get to and land on Mars.

Actual Description: A video simulation of the Curiosity Rover that will impress the shit out of you. Holy crud.

Think of what NASA could do if their budget was larger than .5% of the Federal budget.

Still, I will be amazed if NASA actually pulls this off.  So many moving parts that can break; so many things that can go wrong on the very ambitious descent.

Despite some truly amazing success stories, on the whole, Mars hasn’t exactly put out the welcome mat for our probes, but I’ll hope for the best!  Guess we’ll know in July…

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We're Official!

Ben and I got our Colorado driver licenses and registered to vote yesterday.

The only thing that remains to complete the transition from Arizona to Colorado is to get the car registered.  I have 90 days to do that.

I also finally got the aquarium back up and running yesterday.  No more staring at the empty tank, the constant remember that this place wasn’t yet “home.”

I bought gravel on the commute back from work on Wednesday. Thursday morning I set the tank up and then let it just sit—as recommended—for 24 hours.  Since it is for all intents, a new setup and the nitrogen cycle hasn’t yet been established, I had to be kind of conservative with my initial critter selection. Surprisingly, the fish recommended by the store owner were ones I would’ve wanted to get eventually anyway: 3 black skirts, 5 red-eyes, and 5 serape tetras.  I haven’t selected a bottom feeder yet; I’m hoping to find the same species of plecastomous that I had in Phoenix, but can’t remember what type it was:

Hopefully one of my aquarist readers can identify it, because its looking very unlikely that my sister is going to be willing to give him back. After about two and a half years he’d only grown to about three inches in length, the maximum size the store initially told me and perfect for this relatively small (29 gallon) aquarium.

Ultimately I’d like to get several Clown Loaches (my sister isn’t willing to part with them either), some Neons, maybe some Micky Mouse Platys, and a couple Glass Cats or Pearl Gouramis…

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Obama-Clinton 2012?

The Wall Street Journal speculates:

Paul Starr, co-editor of The American Prospect, a liberal-left magazine, has observed that 45 percent of the people who disapprove of Mr. Obama’s performance view Mrs. Clinton favorably. It is fair to say that Mrs. Clinton’s addition to the ticket would be a substantial gain for President Obama that he badly needs next November, since she is, as Mr. Starr notes, a member of the part of his administration that has the highest approval rating, and more important she has not at all been a part of the disastrous economic policies that have caused the Obama drop in popularity.

Even better for Election Day, she would gain support among older white voters, who did not support Mr. Obama very much in 2008. Mr. Starr also cites a Suffolk University Florida poll that shows that Mrs. Clinton on the Obama ticket would win Florida for the two of them, even if Sen. Marco Rubio is the Republican’s vice presidential candidate. One more advantage: With Mrs. Clinton comes her husband, who would very much want to get his wife elected, and also might be interested in a position in the Obama-Clinton administration.

Put me down as a “Yes!”

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Happy Karen Black Friday

At least now we know why he was in such an awful mood!

(There is a huge backstory to this picture, but I’ll save it for another time in the interest of protecting the [not so] innocent.)

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Dear Governor Douchebag…

It’s called free speech. If you don’t like it, perhaps renouncing your American citizenship and accepting a position with the Chinese government might better suit you.

I’ll bet if you peeled its skin back you’d find one of these underneath.

Why is it always the fucking Republicans who have no concept of—and utter contempt for—the principles upon which this country was founded?!?

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Quote of the Day

“Can we just ask EVERY voter, “Do you watch Fox news?” If they say yes, have someone jangle a key ring in front of their face and lead them out the back door… they will think they’ve voted… no harm, no foul. Right?” – comment at Talking Points Memo

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